Fast break: Celtics-Knicks

Posted By
Paul Flannery
On
November 22, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
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General |
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Depending on your point of view, the Celtics[1] 107-105 victory over the Knicks in overtime Sunday at Madison Square Garden was either a gritty gut-check, or a further sign that things are not right with the C’s.

Kevin Garnett[2] hit the winning shot, but was 4-for-15 for the game. Ray Allen[3] made a huge 3-pointer late in regulation, but was 3-for-13. Rasheed Wallace[4] continued his slump missing all six shots. And on the defensive end, the Celtics held the Knicks to 43 percent shooting, but allowed Al Harrington[5] to drop 30 points on them off the bench, which contributed to the C’s blowing a 14-point lead in the second half.

Either way, it’s a win the Celtics will take after losing three of their last four.

Player of the game: Paul Pierce[6]. The Celtics captain had been content to play distributor at times this season, but with the memory of so many slow starts in his head, Pierce elected to take over early and often. He scored 17 of his 33 points in the first half and lived at the free throw line, all while helping handle some of the point guard duties. There are lot of things that are “off” with the Celtics right now, but Pierce is not one of them.

Turning point: There were so many ebbs and flows that it’s hard to pick one moment as the turning point, but as big shots go it was hard to top Allen’s corner 3-pointer in transition that gave the Celtics a 96-94 lead late in regulation. New York came back to tie the game on a couple of occasions, but never regained the lead.

* It’s still too early to judge Garnett on his comeback, but the judgments will start to come after yet another lackluster performance, despite his game-winning shot. Doc Rivers[7] has acknowledged that Garnett is still a work in progress but he continues to insist that KG is 100 percent healthy.

* Kendrick Perkins[8] played the role of unsung hero with 16 points and 13 rebounds in what might have been his best game of the season. He also refused to get into anything extra with Eddy Curry[9] who has returned to the Knicks a far more feisty player than when they banished him. Curry was sent to the bench, and assessed a flagrant foul, after whacking Rajon Rondo[10] in the back of the head. That came after Perkins stymied him on the block.

* Where was Nate Robinson[11] down the stretch? Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni did the Celtics a favor by keeping Robinson on the bench in favor of Chris Duhon, who is neither a good shooter nor a good creator with the ball in his hands.